The Past Is Never Far
by deidaralover4evr
Summary: Sequel to my one-shot "Human Experiences". Sasori runs into Amber years after he left her without saying goodbye. What will happen when he learns of all the pain he caused her? Will he ever make it up to her? SasoriXOC plus a little Sasodei
1. Chapter 1

**First of all, this is a sequel based off my previous story "Human Experiences". DO NOT read this before reading the one-shot or you will be confused.**

**If you have read, thank you for reading the sequel. I have a few ideas of what to do with this but I don't really know where it is going yet. I don't think it's that great so I would like to ask you to have low expectation of me. That way if I do really good you will be amazed :P**

**Disclaimer: me no own anyone but my OCs!**

Sasori looked down at Amber as she rested so peacefully. He knew it was a lousy thing to do, sleep with her and then be forced to leave without saying good bye, but he didn't want to have to see her face when he left. And he wasn't exactly leaving by choice. The Kazekage and some of the higher up jounin had started to suspect him and how he came to have his incredibly detailed and skilled puppets. At this point, only ten if his puppets were made from human bodies. However most were from allied nations. Those just happened to be the nations with the specific skills he was looking for. The leaders were beginning to notice that his most recent puppets would always have similar abilities to recently missing ninjas and that they always went missing either when Sasori was on a mission near their last location or when the red head's whereabouts were completely unknown. The Sand Village wouldn't be happy if any contracts with other nations were broken because of those missing ninjas. He had been far too careless with his actions. But never the less, he knew from a reliable source that they were going to be coming for him in the morning to investigate and then arrest him for treachery against the Hidden Sand. He didn't want to go down so easily and didn't feel the need to stay there any longer since he had no real ties to his home in the first place. Except for her. He wanted to show her his feelings for her before he decided to not only leave, but also before he turned himself into a puppet and lost his feelings once and for all. He set down a note for her to explain his horrible actions, exited her room quietly, and ran from the village, trying to remain as hidden as possible.

-14 years later-

Sasori walked down the streets of the busy village in his usual protective puppet, Hiruko. An akatsuki hat hid his masked face from passing pedestrians' view. Thankfully the people in the crowd were far too preoccupied to notice his strange hunched appearance.

"Danna," his annoying partner called out just ahead of him,"I found a place for us to stay!" He said pointing to a hotel sign.

Sasori just grunted in reply, his voice sounding much deeper through the puppet, and followed Deidara into the hotel. Deidara paid for their room and they both went up.

Once inside, Sasori pushed open the puppet's back and exited his walking shield. The two artists were on a long mission to the Village Hidden in the Mist to gather intel on a tailed-beast that lived there. The Akatsuki had only caught two of the tailed-beast so far and were focus more time now on finding out information on the creatures. Mostly what type of skills they had and on how strong their hosts were. That way they wouldn't be easily beaten when the real battle started. They already knew this particular ninja was rogue and probably wasn't anywhere near his abandon home, but they still had to know the facts about his past. They had until the next Akatsuki meeting, which was in one month. Other teams had tailed-beast with more information available, unlike himself and Deidara. So the two of them had decided to take the mission slow, seeing as it would only take a week to get there and a few days to gather information. It was mostly Sasori's idea. He didn't want to find out what they need to know and then wait for the other's. He hated waiting!

He scowled when he noticed someone's hands wrapped around his waist.

"I missed you while you were hiding in that grotesque puppet," Deidara said, trying to pull his danna closer.

He hated when Deidara did this. His brat of a partner constantly tried to flirt with him. They had been working together for about a year, and the sixteen year old's hormones knew no bounds and were a continuous annoyance to the red head.

"He's not grotesque, brat! He is true art. That's something you are obviously far too stupid to understand," he said, roughly pushing the hands away.

Deidara smirked, "Come on. You know you can't resist me."

Sasori sighed and rolled his eyes.

*flashback*

"Sasori, wait up!" Deidara said, flying down from the sky on his clay bird.

"If you continue to use your poor excuse for art as transportation, we will have a higher chance of being ambushed," Sasori said, already hating the kid he had known for only a week.

"You just don't understand my ideas. I think your opinions are full of crap, but I still respect you. I even call you master! Why can't you just humor me for once?"

Sasori growled, "I'm not talking about your warped ideas of beauty. I'm just trying not to let the entire ninja world know where we are, you insolent brat! And I told you to stop calling me that. It's stupid."

Deidara smirked, "I think it suits you well, Sasori no Danna."

He jumped off the white bird, which disappeared in a puff of smoke. They both walked into an abandon cave to rest. Hiruko had a few loose screws on his tail so Sasori decided to step out of the puppet to fix them. The second the back hatch swung up, Deidara jumped in surprise.

"Who the hell are you?" Deidara asked, stunned from seeing someone just walk out of his danna's open body.

Sasori stood up straight and turned to face the confused blonde, "That's a puppet, brat. This is what I really look like, my own human puppet body."

Deidara was shocked at how unbelievable handsome he partner was. Sasori hair was such a striking red color and his eyes, no matter how annoyed they looked, were muddy brown and soft. He looked like he would almost be about Deidara's age, but he already knew Sasori was 29. That must prove he really is a puppet then. An incredibly sexy one at that. When Sasori said he was a puppet before, he assumed he just meant he would look like Hiruko forever.

"Danna," he breathed out, still with a shocked look on his face. Sasori felt annoyed by Deidara's stupid expression and turned back to his awaiting puppet. He heard Deidara walk closer to him, but chose to ignore the blonde. He was taken by surprise though when Deidara suddenly turned him around and pulled him into a kiss. He instantly pushed Deidara away from him.

"What the fuck was that, you stupid brat?" He exclaimed, extremely pissed off.

Deidara just stood back up and smirked at his master, "What's wrong? Don't tell me you didn't enjoy that."

Sasori glared at him,"I most certainly did not! It was disgusting for you to even think of doing such a thing. Never do that again or I promise I will kill you and add you to my collection."

Deidara's smirk never left him, "Don't worry. I won't give up. You will enjoy it soon."

*flashback end*

Ever since that day, whenever Sasori came out of Hiruko, Deidara would constantly attempt to flirt with him. It might have been easier for Sasori to stay in the puppet 24/7, but he refused to let the brat have control over him like that. He was the one who was the puppet master, and no one would force him to do anything! Thankfully it had been a long day of walking, so Deidara was too tired to be a pest. He was taking a nap on the bed next to Sasori. Feeling trapped with no one else in the room but the stupid blonde, he decided he needed to get out. He went back into Hiruko and exited the hotel.

It was evening so all the street lights were lit. Most people were either eating dinner somewhere or back in their hotels. There were only a handful of people walking in the streets.

As he continued on, he noticed a small rubber ball pass him going down the street and instantly after he felt someone bump into him from behind. He turned around a saw a little girl who had obviously been chasing the ball and run into him. She looked startled by his scary appearance, but didn't move away or say she was sorry. He felt annoyed. So annoyed he didn't even take into account something strange about her. That her red hair and brown eyes were strangely similar to his own.

"Why don't you watch where you're going, brat," he said, Hiruko's voice sounding very angry and menacing.

She looked slightly scared, but stood her ground, "I'm sorry, sir."

"Lia," he heard someone call out from behind him, "Please be more careful. That was very rude."

He looked back to see who the new person was that had scolded the girl. He gasped when he laid eyes on someone he had thought he would never see again.

**Please review!**

**Also, if you can name the Goo Goo Dolls song where I got this title from, you get extra cookie points (I don't like brownies)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Guess what? I'm still here! I promise you I never forgot about this story. It's just I've been writing a lot of one-shots and other stories lately. If you were to look at my list of things to do on my profile, you would see I actually had two things to do before I update this. However, the nice review by ZanitariaChan changed my mind and I decided to type this first. I actually had this chapter and the next one written down two months ago, but when it comes to typing them out I am lazy. Sorry about that. But remember that reviews motivate me so if you review more I will type faster! Anyways onto the next chapter!**

There stood the girl he had fallen in love with so many years ago, now grown into a 29 year old beautiful woman. Her hair was cut to her shoulders, and she wore light makeup, which she never did as a teen. Besides her new grown-up qualities, she looked almost exactly the same as she had 14 years ago.

"I am very sorry she bothered you, sir. She is usually much more polite than that," his lost love said, oblivious to whom she was really speaking to.

"Amber," he said before he could stop himself.

She looked confused and a bit alarmed that the monstrous shaped stranger knew who she was.

"Come on, Lia, let's get going," she said, grabbing the hand of the little girl. Sasori fought to overcome his speechlessness.

"Please wait," he desperately managed to call out, but it was hard for it to be heard since his voice came out gruff and deeper than usual.

The woman walked away as quickly as she could, dragging the girl behind her.

"Please don't leave, Amber," she heard a softer voice say behind her. She froze mid-step. She hadn't heard that voice in years.

He watched as she slowly turned around to face him. He had crawled out of Hiruko as quickly as he could, wanting her to stop walking away. He knew that the best way to make her stop was to reveal himself.

She looked at him in disbelief like she could not believe he was really standing there. The fact that his appearance hadn't changed even slightly in 14 years didn't make it any more believable. She slowly walked up to him which an unreadable expression on her face. Before he could open his mouth to speak again, she slapped him across the face. Since he was a puppet, it didn't hurt him physically. He only felt an extremely slight sting but it meant nothing to him. Emotionally, however, it hurt like hell. Her eyes were burning with anger. She looked completely disgusted and enraged at him. He should have known she would hate him after he left.

She stormed off, re-grabbing the girl, who looked very confused, and entered a near-by building. Conveniently it was the same hotel he and Deidara were staying in. He didn't want to chase after her because he knew if he acted too fast her anger would just explode again. But he still wanted to talk to her. He sealed Hiruko in a scroll since he didn't want to appear to her in that form again. He made his way back to the hotel

Amber state if being at the moment was very messy. She felt a little happiness for seeing Sasori again, but it was over-run by her many other emotions, mostly hate and rage. He had left her and she couldn't forgive him for that. It had torn her apart. To her the worst part was that she wasn't the only one he had abandoned, even if he didn't know that he did.

"Mommy, who was that?" Lia asked, completely puzzled by all she had seen less than 5 minutes ago. All she knew was she had run into a stranger, a smaller person walked out of the stranger, and her mom had slapped that person and stormed off. It was a weird situation.

Amber sighed and let go of her tight grip on her daughter's hand. They had finally made it back to their room, "I'm sorry, honey. That was just an old...friend."

"Why would you slap someone you call a friend?" Lia asked.

Amber didn't really want to admit to her daughter who Sasori was. Not after what he had done to the both of them," It's not important."

Sasori had quietly followed her back to her room. Thankfully she was do mad she didn't notice him several feet behind her. Once she had a minute to settle down her nerves, he went and knocked on the door. She opened up the slightly which the chain lock still on.

"Go away, you bastard," she said, giving him a deadly glare.

He looked at her with pleading eyes, which was something a rogue ninja never did, "Please at least let me talk with you for a minute."

She sighed and opened up the door. She closed it behind her and emerged the hall as quickly as possible, not wanting Lia to see who is was.

They stood there for a minute, neither knowing exactly what to say. Although she had an agreed to listen to him, she still had an angry glare on her face. It continued to grow with more and more annoyance every second he avoided saying something.

"You look well," he said, not wanting to meet her glare do he started at the floor in front of him.

"Seriously, what are you doing here?" She snapped.

"I happen to be resting here while traveling for business," he said defending himself.

She scoffed, "What 'business' exactly. Being part of an extremely dangerous organization that has murdered thousands of people with no regard for their actions. Is that really the type of person you have become? But I guess I should be surprised I since I was told about all the horrible things you did before you left the village. You and those disgusting puppets you made."

He flinched at her crudeness, "So they told you about that."

She nodded, "They came looking for you the next morning. When they saw what you said in your letter that you were 'involved in certain things', their suspicions were confirmed. They told me you had started killing ninja and used their dead bodies to make more advanced puppets. I must not have known you well because only someone who was truly heartless could do that."

"You know I wasn't completely heartless. I loved you," he said.

She slapped him again," And then out of your apparent love for me you decided you would use me for sex and then break my heart the next morning! How can you claim to love me and do that?"

He didn't know what to say. He loved her ad he knew his actions had been very stupid. He was such an asshole to her.

"I'm sorry," he said, but knowing she probably wouldn't accept it," I know what I did was horrible, but at the time I couldn't think straight. I may have been a powerful ninja, but I was still a teenager who was frightened as the idea of being arrested and killed by the village. I didn't think through my actions. When I was with you...I just wanted to feel loved one last time before I stopped feeling."

She still looked mad, but her expression softened a little, "Did you really turn yourself into a human puppet?"

He nodded. He opened up his cloak and showed her his imprisoned heart, "This is the only thing I have left to keep me alive."

"You mean you don't have your...ummm," she said, pointing down awkwardly and blushed.

If he could, he would have blushed too from embarrassment, "Well I still do. It's not really necessary though. My skin is wooden, but since I used to be human I still have slight feeling from extra nerves left over. It's not the same as normal touch senses, but it's something. So I can still feel...down there, but I can't climax or anything like that."

"I see," she said," Do you miss feeling things?"

"Sometimes. It's hard but you get used to it," he said," But I assume what you really want to ask is do I miss you. Am I right?"

She hesitated but nodded, this time being the one to avoid the other's stare.

He gently grabbed her chin and looked her directly in the eyes. She didn't turn away.

"Every single day I think about what I did to you and I hate myself for it. I may not feel physically, but emotionally, I never stopped living you."

She looked into his eyes with longing, as if she wanted desperately to forgive him.

"I can't," she said," You still don't know everything you have done. It wouldn't be right."

Before he could ask what she meant, she ran back into the hotel room and locked the door. She sat down on her bed, trying to stay strong, but the tears were pouring from her eyes. Lia sat next to her mother and hugged her while she waited for the years to die down. The years she had seen her mother cry many times before, always for the same unknown reason.

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**They make chapters come out much faster :P**


	3. Chapter 3

**I was finishing typing this just a few minutes before I had to leave my house to go on a Thankgiving trip with my family. That's how much I love you guys . Enough to type as fast as possibly could to make sure this chapter could get out as quickly as possible! Please enjoy.**

Sasori walked back to his own hotel room, which was only a few doors down the hall from Amber's. he had never felt so horrible in his life. He had just witnessed first-hand all the effects of the damage he had caused his one true love. He could never be forgiven for that. He walked into the room where Deidara was sitting on the bed waiting for him.

"Who was that?" The blonde questioned.

How the hell did the brat know,"What are you talking about?"

"The girl in the street," he said,"You actually got out of that ugly puppet in public for once. That itself is shocking enough. But then she slapped you. What the hell is up with that? If it was someone you didn't know, you would have killed them with one of your puppets in a second."

Sasori flinched. That was exactly what drove Amber away from him. To add to all the shit he had out her through, he was also a cold-blooded killer. Maybe she could be right about it being barabaric,"Just an old friend," he said not feeling the need to explain himself to the annoying bomber. He clasped down on his bed.

"We'll if your friends greet you with a slap, that's some friendship," Deidara said walking over to Sasori's bed. He sat down next to him but Sasori turned away. Deidara sighed. He hated how much Sasori resisted talking to him. He wrapped his arms around Sasori's waist and waiting for the yelling to start. It was the only way Sasori would notice him.

Sasori was about to hit Deidara, but for one second he had a strange feeling. Although the feeling of the arms around his waist was only slight to his dulled senses, it reminded him of when he was with Amber. He could close his eyes and easily imagine it was her. Her finally forgiving him. Her soft lips faintly pressed against his. Wait...what? He finally snapped out of it an opened up his eyes. The brat was actually kissing him! He roughly pushed Deidara away from him and he fell to the floor, hitting his head. He rubbed his injury while he stared shocked and terrified of the outraged look on Sasori's face.

"DON'T YOU EVER FUCKING DO THAT AGAIN! YOU HEAR ME, BRAT?" He screamed.

The frightened blonde nodded hastily an watched as Sasori stormed out the door. He was very confused as to why Sasori would let it go so far and then tell at him to stop. He even kissed back too! That wasn't exactly the way he had imagined his first kiss.

•••••••••••••••••••••••

Lia watched her mother sleep. After she had stopped crying Lia convinced her to lie down for a bit. She looked like she needed the rest. She heard someone down the hallway scream. Thankfully her mother didn't wake up and remained asleep. She heard someone walk past the door and opened it slightly to see who it was. There was a glimpse of bright red hair before the enraged figure turned to the next hallway. It was the guy her mom was talking to earlier. The man who had made her so sad. She checked to see if her mom was still sleeping and quickly exited the room, following the angry man.

Sasori walked back into the streets. No one was outside at that time of night. Most were probably either at a bar or asleep. He walked down to the edge of the town. There he saw a small pond lit up by small strings of light in the surrounding trees. It was completely deserted. He sat down and stared at the slowly moving water. He could never have dreamed of all the things that had happened to him today.

Suddenly, he felt something bounce off the side of his head. The object fell into his lap. It was the same ball he had seen that little girl chase before. He turned around and sure enough she was standing right behind him.

"Was that really necessary?" He said, slightly pissed off, and then threw the ball back.

She caught it, an angry glare on her face. It looked the same as when Amber was angry with him.

"What did you do to my mom?" She asked, angrily.

He looked stunned for a second,"Your what?"

"My mom! Why did you make her mad?"

He was surprised. This girl appeared to be almost fourteen years old. That would mean Amber would have had her when she was 15.

...shit! He was such an idiot!

He had wanted to deny it so much that he had hurt her. He never even considered the possibility that he had impregnated her! Then again, was the the point of using protection during sexy. Again, what a fucking idiot!

"Come over here," he said, motioning to her.

She hesitated, still a little nervous of the man even if she appeared more calm than that. She had no idea who he was, but she still approached him.

He wanted to get a good look at her. He had been so focused on Amber before that he hadn't even noticed the similarities between the young girl and himself. She had short red hair that held back in a ponytail. Her skin was pale white, only a little fairer than his. She looked like the girl version of himself as a child. He wondered how Amber felt about her daughter looking so much like the man she hated.

"Has your mother ever told you anything about your father?" He asked.

She wasn't exactly sure why he would ask that," She told me he left before I was born. He never even knew about me. I know she still misses him, because other men ask her on dates all the time, but she refuses them. But she made it clear she doesn't want him back either. He hurt her badly. Do you know him then?"

He looked back at the pond,"Yes."

She suddenly touched his hair, as if examining it. He watched her undo her ponytail and observe her's the same way.

"It's you, isn't it?"she asked.

He smiled a bit, happy to know his daughter wasn't as much of an idiot as he was,"I think I might be."

She slapped him. She may look like Sasori, but she was definitely her mother's daughter,"Why would you leave?"

He sighed,"I didn't want to. I'm not exactly a good person. I left the village because I knew if I stayed I would have been in trouble. I don't want to worry your mother if i was arrested or killed so I left without saying good bye. I just ended up hurting her even more."

"No wonder she slapped you," Lia said,"You should come back and talk to her again. I'll go with you."

She held out a hand for him to grab. He smiled. She had the same kindness Amber had shown him when they had first met. When they had fallen in love. He grabbed her hand and they walked back to the village.

**What are your thought. PLEASE REVIEW! That's the only way I get encouragement to continue the story!**


	4. Chapter 4

**ATTENTION READERS: There have been a few small changes to the story so please take note of them before you continue.**

**1. I have changed the time frame to 14 years later instead of 10. That makes Sasori and Amber 29 and Lia is now 14. I have been debating this for some time because I wanted Lia to be a bit older.**

**2. Instead of 2 months to complete the mission, it is now 1 month.**

**Those are the only changes. Anyways, Happy Holidays everyone! This chapter is my present to you. I'm not sure if it's that great, but it keeps the story moving at least.**

••••••••••••••

Lia wasn't completely sure what to think of the man beside her. She knew he wasn't a good person, even he had said so himself. She had heard stories about the people who wore black cloaks with dark red clouds. Those people were all evil criminals. The man wore that same attire so it was mostly likely that he was one of these criminals. He also had put her mother through so much pain and misery. Lia had watched her mom's pain her entire life. Her mother could seem happy on most days, but Lia knew that no matter how happy she appeared, there was also a small bit of sadness inside of her.

Still Lia couldn't bring herself to be mad at the man after speaking with him. He didn't seem all that bad. Lia also noticed something else though. He had the same exact look in his eyes that her mom did when she was sad. Lia could tell how much this man missed her mom. She at least wanted to get to speak to the man who was most likely her father for a little longer.

The two of them made it back to the hotel room. They were standing in front of her mother's door. The older man looked nervous, something Lia suspected he didn't show too often. Her mom was still probably asleep. At least that didn't rush things for them.

Lia heard the noise of a door quietly opening down the hallway. She looked and could see someone peaking out of another room at them. The door was only open partially so she couldn't see the person's face. Lia walked over to the door. The person look surprised from being caught and slammed it. Lia knocked on their door.

"What?" Someone on the other side asked, sounding annoyed.

"I should ask you that. You're the one who was staring at us," Lia retorted.

Sasori walked down the hallway to stand by Lia.

"Don't bother with him. He's an idiot," Sasori said.

The door flung open to reveal a pissed off Deidara.

"I'm not an idiot, you heartless bastard," he yelled. Sasori just rolled his eyes in response.

Lia looked at the teenager in front of her with curiosity.

"You have a deep voice for a girl," she remarked.

Deidara's angry expression turned to the little girl.

"I'm a guy! Why is it so hard for people to see that?" He yelled at her.

Lia just remained calm, "Well maybe they would if you had shorter hair."

Sasori stood slightly in between the two teenagers, afraid Deidara was going to try to rip her head off.

"This is my partner, Deidara," he said to Lia.

She looked confused for a second, "You mean like a gay partner?"

Deidara started blushing madly at such a blunt statement, and Sasori would have to if he could, considering what had happened between him and Deidara about ten minutes ago.

"Not like that," Sasori said quickly, "he's my partner in the organization I'm a part of."

"So whose this kid?" Deidara asked, eyeing Lia suspicious.

Lia smiled, "I'm his daughter."

Deidara looked absolutely shocked! When he looked at the girl he could see she did look a lot like his danna.

"What the hell, Sasori? Since when do you have a kid?" Deidara asked, still looking shocked.

"I just found out tonight," Sasori said, "she was born after I left the village."

The door on the other end of the hall opened, and her mom stepped out. All of Deidara's yelling must have woke her up. She looked very angry to see her daughter standing by the man she hated so much.

"Get away from him, Lia," her mom said, motioning for her to come into the room.

To her mother's surprise, and Sasori's as well, Lia held onto Sasori's arm.

"Not until you talk with him properly," Lia said.

Amber sighed. She knew it was impossible to tell Lia to do something once her mind was made up, and Lia certainly looked confident about this.

"Fine, we'll talk in here," Amber said as opened the door all the way.

Lia smiled when she saw the slightest bit of relief on Sasori's face. She turned back to Deidara, who was still confused with the whole situation.

"Do you want to come?" Lia asked, feeling a little bad he was being left out.

Sasori pulled her along, "Don't bother with him. He's nothing but a brat."

All three people walked into the hotel room, leaving Deidara alone in the hallway.

"So he already has someone," Deidara said, feeling like he was about to cry, "Plus he has a kid. Does that mean I never stood a chance?"

•••••••••••••••••

To call the situation awkward would have been an under statement. Sasori and Amber sat facing each other on opposite beds. Nothing had been said in the past few minutes and it was getting uncomfortable. Neither of them knew exactly what to say or how to start.

The only person who was completely oblivious to awkwardness was Lia. She sat on the bed with Sasori, still holding his hand in support. Her mother was sending a death glare to Sasori's hand, but Lia tried to ignore it.

"Is he my father, mom?" Lia asked, making the uncomfortable moment even worse for her mother.

Amber sighed and nodded her head. It's not like she could hide the truth anymore. Lia was a very smart girl so she obviously figured out the connection just by looking at Sasori.

"He is, but that doesn't mean you need to trust him," Amber said, "He not as good of a person as you may think."

"I know he isn't a good person," Lia said, "I know he's the reason you are always so upset. But he has the same exact misery on his face that you have on your's. I can tell he feels bad about it and always has ever since he left. He still cares about you."

Hearing those words from Lia felt a lot different to Amber than when Sasori tried to say it. When Sasori talked, it was easy for her to block him out completely because she had built up so much hatred for him over the years. When Lia talked though, she knew tho was her daughter who only had her mother's happiness in mind. She was not a girl who could be tricked easily. When she said Sasori was sorry, Amber knew it couldn't be a lie.

"What do you propose we do then?" Amber asked her daughter, who seemed to have a much better grasp of the situation that either of them had.

Lia smiled brightly, "I think tomorrow you to should go on a date. Get to talk things over again. I don't think it could hurt you more than you already have been for the past years."

Amber could see the logic in that. She don't think she could get anymore upset than she already had been before. Plus even if he had left them, he was still her daughter's father, and she owed Lia that much. She looked at Sasori for the first time since entering the room. He did look upset. He also looked completely crushed, like he had predicted her answer was going to be no.

"Fine," Amber said, "but just for a little bit."

Sasori's face instantly lit up. He had been that happy in years. Not since he was last with Amber.

"I'll come back tomorrow," Sasori said and started to leave the room. He was afraid of he waited any longer she could take her answer back.

Once the door was closed, Amber let out a sigh of relief. Lia ran over to hug her.

"I'm happy for you, mom," she said, "you made the right choice.

Amber hoped she was right about that.

**That's all for now, folks. Please review, and have a great and safe holiday :)**


	5. Chapter 5

New chappie is here!

Not a lot happens but I guess this is more of an info chapter.

Please enjoy

•••••••••••••••

To Sasori, tomorrow couldn't come soon enough. He was so glad to get the chance to prove himself to Amber. When morning came, he got ready quickly. He decided to not wear his akatsuki cloak. He didn't want any extra attention from the people in the town, especially if there were shinobi who would recognize the symbol. Plus Amber wasn't too happy with his current standing, and the cloak would just remind her of that. Instead he put on a plain black shirt and jeans. Better not add pressure to the situation by making it too fancy.

He left the room while Deidara was still sleeping. It was after 10 but the bomber liked sleeping in on the days they didn't have a mission. Sasori was thankful for that because he didn't want to have to bother with Deidara after what happened yesterday.

Last night when Sasori came back to the room, Deidara was lying on his bed. He could tell Deidara had been crying before, probably when he had first left the room after the kiss. The blonde refused to talk with him, and that was probably for the best. Sasori didn't have anything to say to Deidara. He felt a little bad for getting so mad when he had allowed the kiss to happen, but it was the brats fault in the first place.

Sasori made his way to Amber's room and knocked on the door. He heard a small sigh on the other side before it opened up. Amber had also decided to keep her attire casual, but to Sasori she still looked stunning. She had on a plain long-sleeved red shirt that looked very similar to Sasori's hair color. She was also wearing jeans, which fit her curves well. Plain clothes always suited her better because she had so much natural beauty of her own.

"You look nice today," Sasori said.

Amber forced herself to smile. She closed the door behind her. Before the door closed, Sasori got a glimpse of Lia giving him a thumbs-up to encourage him. It was nice having someone on his side.

The two ex-lovers walked down the streets of the town. Being close to the middle of the day, there were lots of people outside. Lots of people walking with their spouses and families. Sasori knew he had to be careful no one would recognize him. Being with Amber at least gave him the cover of looking like he was just walking with his girlfriend or wife.

They decided to have lunch at a dango shop. It was a little too sweet to be lunch, but Sasori knew it was Amber's favorite. They sat at a table together, not saying a word to each other. This time Lia wasn't there to stop the silence so it was up to one of them.

Sasori finally decided to break the ice.

"How has your art been?" He asked.

"It's pretty good," Amber said, hesitantly opening up a little, "That's actually why I'm staying in this town. There's a town in Konoha that is opening up a new art museum, and they are feature some of my work there. Lia and I are traveling there for the grand opening."

"I'm happy for you," he said, "I've seen a few of your pieces in museums over the years. You're becoming famous."

"It's a shame your art won't be known in the same way," she said, sounding more sad than accusing, "It's may be messed up now, but when we were teenagers your art was beautiful."

"Not all my puppets are made that way," he said, "I still love craving wooden ones. I only make the more advanced puppets for battle."

"Why did it come to that?" She asked him, "Why did you decided to ruin your art like that."

Sasori didn't feel his art was ruined at all. He never felt bad when he killed any of those ninja. But he knew how bad it must look to Amber.

"I wanted to make my puppets more powerful," he confessed, "My puppets were strong, but it was extremely difficult to give them special abilities. I could get those abilities if I used the bodies of skilled shinobi."

Amber finally looked at him. She looked angry and very hurt.

"So that's the reason you left me," she said, "because your attempt at power was going to get you arrested."

Now it was Sasori's turn to avoid eye contact.

"Yes," he said.

The waitress brought over their food to the table. Both muttered their thanks before the girl left them alone again.

"So," Amber said as she grabbed a piece of food from her plate, "What sort of things have you been up to besides criminal activities."

"Not much," he said, "I work on wooden puppets from time to time. My organization requires me to travel a lot. My annoying partner also thinks he's an artist. His idea is completely idiotic though. He believes art is fleeting and lasts only a moment. So a lot of my time is spent arguing with him or getting him to stop flirting with me. He's a slutty brat."

Amber laughed a little, "So he's the completely opposite of you. Maybe you two should be together. You know what they say about opposites attracting."

Sasori blushed a little, "Sh-shut up! I'm not gay! You're just as bad as Lia with that."

Amber frowned a little when her daughter's name was mention, "She seems to have taken a liking to you."

Sasori slightly smiled, "She's very beautiful. She has your kindness."

"She has your looks," Amber said.

"Does it bother you that your daughter looks like the man you hate so much?" Sasori asked.

"Don't say that!" Amber said, flustered, "I would never judge my daughter by the horrible acts you did!"

"I'm sorry," Sasori said, "I didn't mean to offend you."

Amber took a deep breath and calmed down, "It's okay. No I don't hate that she looks like you. She's very pretty. I love her red hair and brown eyes. It may remind me of you sometimes, but I don't hate it. If anything, when I see her I remember the man I loved instead of the one I hated."

Sasori smiled, "I know you may never forgive me, but would you at least allow me to get to know my daughter better?"

Amber thought for a moment. He was a criminal, but he was Lia's dad. He should at least just a chance to get to know his own child a little better.

"That's fine," Amber told him, "and I'm not sure if I will ever truly forgive you for what you did, but perhaps one day we can be friends again."

"I think we're already getting there," Sasori said.

•••••••••••••••••••

Lia walked down the hallway to her dad's room. She was sure the blonde guy from yesterday was still in there. He had looked very upset. She wanted to see if he was feeling better. She knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" A voice called out from the room.

"It's Lia," she yelled through the door, "We met yesterday."

The door opened. Deidara had woken up an hour ago when Sasori was leaving, but he acted like he was still asleep. He didn't want to look at the puppet master. He was still upset from all the events of the prior day. Until Lia knocked, he was still in bed. If no one bothered him he probably would have stayed there all day. So when he answered the door, he looked a bit of a mess. His blonde hair wasn't in a ponytail yet so it was very messy. He was still wearing the t-shirt he wore to bed as his pajama top along with his black boxers. He glared at the younger teenager who stood before him.

"What do you want?" He asked, venom lacing his voice.

"I came here to see if you were okay," she said, offended, "What did I ever do to you?"

"You took my danna away from me," he said, "that's what you did."

"Well I'm sorry I can't help that I was born," she shot back, "I also can't help who you're gay for."

"I'm not gay," Deidara said, "I'm bisexual. There's a difference."

"Well I don't have a problem with that," she said, "Just don't judge me for things I'm not to blame for."

He sighed, "Fine then, I'm sorry. Come inside if you want."

She walked into the bedroom. She could tell whose bed was whose because one was neatly made while the other still had sheets and pillows all over the place.

"Where did Sasori go?" Deidara asked.

"He and my mom went out to lunch," Lia said. She sat down on her father's bed.

"So yesterday was the first day you met Sasori?" Deidara asked

She nodded, "He left before he knew my mom was pregnant. What's he like? You obviously have spent a lot of time with him."

"I've known him for about a year," Deidara said, "He's a judgmental, grumpy asshole."

"Do you like him?" She asked.

Deidara scowled, "You ask a lot of weird questions for only being a kid."

"I'm not too much younger than you," she said, "and you didn't answer my question."

"Well," he started, "I know I'm bisexual because I've liked both guys and girls. Sasori no Danna is different. I do have feelings for him I guess. I've tried to flirt with him before but he hates me. He hates my art."

"Your art?" She asked.

For the first time since Sasori had yelled at him, Deidara smiled. He grabbed his clay poach and stuck one of his hands inside. Once it chewed up some clay he retracted it. He showed the mouth to Lia. He figured she would look either disgusted or scared when he showed her, but to his surprise she look fascinated by it.

"What's that for," she asked, extremely intrigued.

He smirked, "Just watch."

The mouth spit out the wad of clay and within two seconds Deidara molded it into a mini butterfly. He used his jutsu to control it and make it fly. Lia smiled while she watched the butterfly circle around her. Deidara made the butterfly higher over them so it was far enough away.

"Katsu!" He yelled as he made his custom hand signs.

The butterfly exploded. The blast was small but it still let off a decent cloud of smoke. Lia watched the performance, awed by the display.

"That's your jutsu?"

He nodded, "It's my art. Your dad believes art is eternal. I disagree completely. I believe art is fleeting. It is meant to last only a moment so that the memory will be quick but imprinted forever."

She smiled, "I like your art. It makes a lot of sense"

Deidara smiled back. He liked this kid. It was nice to know a non-judging, kind copy of Sasori existed.

•••••••••••••••

End of chapter!

Please review and remember I love you all :)


	6. Chapter 6

Hello, all. Yes I am still here. I didn't forget about this story. I haven't written since December mostly because I was working on some other fanfics, but also because I wasn't exactly sure what to do next in this story. I know some of the main plot points but the in between stuff is what stops me.

I am going to change the time frame again. It will now be that they have to complete their mission in two weeks. It takes three days to get to the village and two to get to the akatsuki meeting. Keep in mind this is on their second day at the village so they have 12 days left.9 I will change the first chapter soon. Just keep that time change in mind. If I didn't change it then I would be writing this story forever!

So sorry if this chapter sucks. I hope the story will get better soon :P

/

After their meal, Sasori and Amber weren't exactly sure what they should do next. Things between them were still extremely awkward. They walked through the small shops that were open to the tourist on the main road. Occasionally to try and start a conversation, Sasori would point to an interesting item. She would either nod or say something like "that's cool". It was weird for Sasori being the talkative one because he usually rarely spoke. Even when they were dating, Amber talked ten times as much as Sasori. For her to be quiet was so strange to him.

They saw an art supply store. Amber actually looked exicted for that. When Sasori asked if she would like to go inside, she tried to pretend like she didn't care, but he could tell she really wanted to.

They both entered the small shop. The walls were filled with speciality art items, not any of the cheap stuff large corporate companies makes. These were all homemade supplies with high quality products to make that. The paints were made of any chemicals, but rather natural herbs that had better quality color. All the pencils were perfectly shaped and came in every shade you could think of.

Amber automatically looked at the pencils, since drawing was what she specialized in. She looked through the different shades of blue. It was Lia's favorite color. She found one shade that she hasn't seen before. It was an incredibly pure shade of sky blue. It looked really different.

"Are you getting that?" Sasori asked.

She shrugged, "It's a good shade. I think I will."

She went up to the counter to buy it. Sasori said he would pay for it, but she said she didn't want any of her art to be paid for with his "dirty money". He waited for her outside.

She was out of the store in about a minute. She put the pencils and wallet back in her purse. Sasori saw something fall out her bag. She didn't notice it. He picked it up and was about to give it back to her when he noticed what it was.

He unfolded it and saw it was the picture she had drawn of him the day before he left. He remembered how much detail and effort she had put into it, especially around his eyes.

She saw what he was holding and gasped. She ripped it out of his hands.

"Don't go looking through my stuff!" she said angrily.

"It fell out of your bag and I picked it up," he explained, "Why did you keep a picture of me all this time?"

She blushed and put the picture back in her bag, "It doesn't matter."

Sasori frowned, "It does to me."

She sighed, "I just like that picture, alright? I put in a lot of work into this."

"You put in a lot of effort to all of your drawings," he said, "I didn't realize you still had any feelings for me after all I did to you."

"I don't!" she yelled, "You don't mean anything to me."

He could see the angry in her eyes, but there was something much stronger behind it; pain. She looked like she was using the anger so she wouldn't start crying.

"Are you sure about that?" He asked.

She turned away from him. She didn't respond for a minute, as if she was trying to calm herself down.

"There are so many things I hate about you," she said quietly, "but the thing I hate the most is how I can't get over you. I feel completely torn. My brain wants nothing more than to hate you and never see you again, but my heart remembers those years we had together. I can't let you go no matter how much I want to."

He put a hand on her shoulder, but she shook it off.

"I still love you," he said, " I meant it when I said my heart would always belong to you. I never forgot about you."

She turned back to him, and he could see tears forming in her eyes.

"You really have no idea all they things that have happened to me since you left," she said, "You've been driving me insane all these years."

"I'm sorry," he said. He didn't know how he could say anything else to make it better, "Would you ever give me another chance?"

She wiped her eyes, "I...maybe. I don't know."

He gently brushed away the single tear that remained on her cheek, "I hope you do."

He leaned forward and softly kissed her lips. She gasped a bit but didn't turn away. He wrapped his arms around her. To his surprise she actually started kissing him back.

He was thrilled to be with his love like that again, but at the same time it made him feel depressed. He could feel her faintly but the wooden skin wasn't the same. He felt his heart become filled with despair when he realized he would never be with her the same way again. He had known all those years ago that he would be giving up any feeling he had left in his body, but now he would give anything to have it back. He just wanted to feel her kissing him again.

Amber stopped kissing him when she felt that something was wrong.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Ya I am..." He said quietly.

She frowned, "You can't feel it, can you?"

"Not much," he admitted, "It isn't the same."

She sighed, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be!" He said, "This is my own stupid fault. It has nothing to do with you. Why did you let me kiss you?"

"I don't know," Amber said, "I guess I'm just a weak person who is exhausted of fighting with myself. I wanted to see if I could go back."

"And can you?" He asked.

She hesitated, "I think I may be able to."

_\_\_\\\_\_\_\_\_\\\_\_\_\_

They walk back to the hotel. Amber had allowed Sasori to hold her hand. Just like the kiss, he could barely feel it. It made him feel worse and worse the more he couldn't feel her touches.

They both made their way up to the rooms. They stopped outside Amber's door.

"Thank you," he said.

She smiled and kissed him lightly, "You're welcome."

She went into her room and closed the door. Sasori slowly walked back to his own room. He sighed. He didn't know what he was going to do. He thought that when he was 15 he was ready to become eternal art, but now he wanted to take that all back. He wanted to be human for Amber again. No matter what, he would find a way to make that happen!

/

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